Reconstruction
by Vivid Scripts
Summary: After Palpatine dissolves the Senate, a heartbroken Padme returns home to Naboo to build a new life for herself with her family.
1. Prologue

A/N:  
  
Background Info: This takes place around the same time as Episode III (five years after episode II), and is a hugely AU project. You're going to have to read the story if you want to know more. I give away no spoilers :D  
  
Reconstruction- Prologue  
  
Padmé skirted through the Nabooian grasslands in her speeder. Amidala raced through the grasslands, hoping to arrive at her family's farmhouse and homestead in the countryside before nightfall.  
  
The former senator was heavily burdened by the horrors she had witnessed on Coruscant. After what would definitely be the last meeting of the Galactic Senate, she packed her bags and left Coruscant, vowing never to return again. In the past four months, she had lost everything- her career, her friends, her peace of mind, and most painful of all, her husband.  
  
Padmé sighed. In a single day, Palpatine had managed to sweep the board clear of his foes, killing the last of the Jedi, destroying the Jedi temple, and dissolving the senate permanently. When she landed on Coruscant one day before Palpatine's ambitious seizure of power, Mace Windu had warned her.  
  
Padmé remembered the Jedi master's words so clearly. He told of Anakin's fall to the dark side, and of Palpatine's true identity- Darth Sidious. Padmé had refused to believe and entered the Senate chambers despite his pleas.  
  
In that dreadful meeting, Palpatine declared himself emperor of the Republic. Bail Organa rose to object, and Palpatine subsequently struck him down with force lightning. The hum of lightsabers suddenly echoed throughout the senate chambers as numerous Jedi emerged from hiding to attack the dark lord of the Sith.  
  
Just as soon as the Jedi had made their presence known, the chambers flooded with storm troopers. Anakin Skywalker also emerged amidst the chaos, and Padmé distinctly remembered how pleased she was to see him. He was a light amidst the chaos and terror in the senate chambers as Sidious and his storm troopers battled the Jedi. Then he did the unthinkable- he drew his lightsaber and began to strike down his fellow Jedi with its crimson blade.  
  
Anakin had fallen to the dark side of the Force. There was no more denying it. That same day, Padmé was present when he attacked his old master, Obi- Wan. So complete was his fall that he had assumed his own Sith title- Darth Vader. Padmé recalled that day with such distinct horror. The two warriors fought a violent and vicious battle among the catwalks of the great Coruscant coliseum.  
  
The most terrifying image she held in her mind was the climax of that terrifying duel. Obi-Wan had stumbled, and Vader delivered a fatal blow, impaling his old master with the crimson blade of his lightsaber. Vader then made the mistake of turning his back upon his old master; Obi-Wan had not perished yet. With the last ounce of energy within him, Obi-Wan struggled to his feet and pushed his old Padawan off the catwalk. Vader plummeted to his doom. After seeing his old apprentice fall, Obi-Wan collapsed and his body became one with the force. His duty was complete.  
  
A tear dripped down from Padmé's eye. Anakin dwelled heavily upon her thoughts. She vividly remembered the days they had spent together. The Lake country where he professed his love for her, the gladiator ring where she confessed her feelings, and the secret marriage ceremony all weighed heavily upon her heart.  
  
She would trade anything she had now to be with him again. This life was not worth it anymore. There was no more joy, only pain. No more love, only sadness. The senator bobbed her head, allowing herself to cry profusely. She never saw the other speeder coming...  
  
A/N: Reviews! Ahhh well I can't expect you to review this. It's the prologue. Nothing happens. Don't worry. I'll have chapter 1 in soon. 


	2. Reconstruction Chapter 1

A/N: Wow... that's the most responses I've ever got for releasing a single chapter. I plan to maintain both this story and my other story (Dark Conspiracy) at the same time, and I know this might be draining, but I think I can pull it off. I'm also running low on time (just got back to school from winter break) so my releases might start to slow down, but I hope to release at least 2 chapters every 2-3 days.  
  
Chapter 1  
  
"What... Where am I?"  
  
"My name is Ruwee Naberrie. You're in the guest room of my farmhouse."  
  
The battered young man groaned with pain. Everything ached. "Why am I here? What happened?"  
  
"You were in a terrible speeder accident, son. My daughter was driving the other speeder. She was fortunate enough to escape unhurt, but you were a wreck. I took you in and my medical droids managed to keep you alive. You lost most of your right arm in the accident, and my droids couldn't save your leg. You also sustained several skull fractures and broke many ribs. It'll take a while for you to recover."  
  
"How long have I been here?"  
  
"You were unconscious for nearly three days. You're lucky to be alive, son." Ruwee turned to walk out of the room and leave the young man to rest, but stopped himself at the door. "I almost forgot to ask. What's your name?"  
  
"My name?"  
  
"Yes. You don't want me to be calling you 'son' throughout your entire stay here, now do you?"  
  
The young man scowled. He searched his memory for the multi-syllable word that was his name, but every time he searched the answer came up blank. The harder he tried the more elusive the answer became.  
  
"I- I don't know."  
  
"You don't know your own name?"  
  
"I can't remember..."  
  
The older man frowned, and took a seat next to the patient bed. Ruwee ran his hand through his salt-and-pepper hair and sighed as a way to temporarily alleviate the stress that had bottled up within him.  
  
"Listen son, how you survived that accident is beyond me. Padmé's speeder crunched right through the driver's seat of your speeder." Ruwee paused. "You sustained several skull fractures. I would not be surprised if you've also experienced some memory loss. Can you remember anything, anything about yourself, your past, who your family is?"  
  
The battered young man shook his head, a pained expression etched upon his face. "N-no, I-I can't remember anything."  
  
Ruwee sighed. "I'll have my droids take care of you until you're better. I'll also get word out to the other nearby settlers, see if we can find your family."  
  
The young man nodded. "Thank you, Ruwee. That's very kind of you."  
  
"It's the good thing to do considering what happened. I wasn't there, and I know it's an accident, but my daughter seems to take full responsibility for what happened." Ruwee paused. He touched the young man on the head, as if to bless him and protect him from sickness. "Rest easy, you still have a lot of healing to do."  
  
* * * *  
  
"Pooja dear, please finish your breakfast." Sola commanded her youngest daughter.  
  
The eight year-old scowled at her mother with childish anger and frustration. "I'm full, mother." Sola sighed. How was she ever going to get her stubborn daughter to budge?  
  
"Aunt Padmé, what's wrong?" Sola's elder daughter, Ryoo, asked her aunt.  
  
Since she had returned, Padmé's had disposition was as depressing as the dead of winter. The twenty-eight year old had a seat next to the living room window, and all she did was gaze out at the fields.  
  
"Aunt Padmé?"  
  
Padmé turned to face her niece. The eleven year old showed her a warm, friendly smile. Padmé smiled back. "It's... complicated, Ryoo."  
  
"Aunt, please tell me what happened at Coruscant." The child asked with such naïve boldness. Her father, Darred Naberrie, looked up his newspaper and eyed his daughter disapprovingly.  
  
Padmé's smile soured. "I'd-I'd rather not, Ryoo." Padmé normally had a hard time denying her niece's requests, but she knew it was even harder to recite the events of that fateful day on Coruscant.  
  
"Why?"  
  
Darred rose from his seat on the other side of the living room and hoisted his daughter up into his arms. "I think you should leave your Aunt Padmé alone for now, Ryoo."  
  
"No, it's alright Darred."  
  
"No, you need some time alone, I understand that." Her brother-in-law showed a compassionate expression. He smiled to his daughter. "Hey, I'll take you outside, we can find some bait, and go fishing. Whaddaya say, kiddo?"  
  
The child's eyes glazed with happiness. "Let's go, dad!"  
  
Darred smiled and kissed his daughter on the forehead. The two then exited the house.  
  
Jobal looked over to her daughter sitting in corner by the window. She watched Padmé sit in dead silence. A maternal sense of concern was aroused within Jobal. She had never seen her youngest daughter this distraught before. She took a seat next to her.  
  
"Padmé, please talk to me." Jobal requested. Padmé made no sign of response. "You've been back three days already, and I haven't heard so much of a peep out of you."  
  
"I'm alright, mom."  
  
"No you're not, Padmé. Please, tell me what happened on Coruscant."  
  
"No! No mother, I will not tell you what happened!" Padmé snapped. "You know what happened on Coruscant! If you want someone to tell you, just turn to the news station on the holo net. I struggle everyday trying to forget what happened there. I don't need to be reminded."  
  
Jobal jerked back, her expression weakened. She did not know what to do. Her youngest daughter had never snapped at her that way.  
  
Padmé's posture slumped. "I'm sorry, mother." She said remorsefully. Jobal embraced her. "I'm so sorry."  
  
"It's alright, Padmé. I know you're going through bad times now. You need some healing. You can't start to heal until you can relieve the pain. The only way you can relieve this pain is by sharing it.  
  
Padmé nodded, and told her mother everything. 


	3. Reconstruction Chapter 2

A/N: odd... after the initial swell of reviews (6) for the prologue, I only got 1 for chapter 1. Hah, well I guess I'm not being patient. I just hope you enjoy read my stuff as much as I enjoy writing it. All comments are welcome. Here we go...  
  
Chapter II  
  
* One month later *  
  
"Good morning, stranger." Ruwee said as he invited the young man to take a seat next to him at the dining table. "It's good to finally see you up and about."  
  
Since physically recovering from the accident, the Naberries had provided the stranger with a cybernetic replacement for the right arm he lost as well as a replacement for the leg Ruwee's droids were unable to repair. This morning, he had gathered enough strength to rise from his atrophic sleep in the guest room.  
  
"Thank you, Ruwee." The stranger said.  
  
"We really need to learn your name, or at least give you a temporary name until your memory comes back." Jobal said as she took a seat at the opposite side of the table. "I don't think it's appropriate for us to be calling you stranger like this."  
  
"I can't say I don't agree, Jobal." Ruwee replied to his wife. "We should come up with a temporary name for you."  
  
"How about Marko?" Darred suggested.  
  
The stranger took a few minutes to think it over before nodding in confirmation. "Marko sounds good. I guess I'll take it until I can remember my real name."  
  
"I figured it would fit you." Darred replied. "Marko was my best friend's name. At least he was my best friend until he died in the war."  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"It wasn't your fault, stranger. The Clone Wars was just a horrific time." Darred paused. "Did you fight in the war?"  
  
"I-I can't remember exactly what happened to me before the crash."  
  
"Just keep trying, Marko." Ruwee said. "I know it might be hard with us always asking you to try to remember something, but it's the only way your memory will ever come back. There still isn't a medical procedure for this type of thing; only the right external stimuli can help you to regain your memory."  
  
"So all I really need is a sort of reminder for it all to snap back?"  
  
"It won't all just snap back. It will return to you slowly." Ruwee said. "I also received word from the other nearby settlers. Nobody seems to be missing a son or husband, so I think it's possible that maybe you're not from around here."  
  
"Maybe I'm an off-worlder."  
  
The conversation seemed to come to a screeching halt as Padmé stepped into the room. She looked around the room with a certain expression of discomfort, pausing when her gaze met Marko's. The stranger blinked, a strange feeling coming over him as his gaze met hers. She was so beautiful... Padmé averted her eyes, looking away from the stranger as she hastily made her way upstairs to her room.  
  
"You'll have to excuse my daughter." Jobal said. "She's been a bit temperamental since she returned last. And I can't blame her. She needs some time to recover from what happened."  
  
"Why, was she hurt?"  
  
"No, but what she saw was not easy for her to take." Jobal replied. "She was once a senator for Naboo, and she was in the senate chambers the day Palpatine rose to power. She witnessed a number of horrors there, and I know it must be hard for her to move on after that. The burden of those memories combined with the stress over the accident must be too much for her to take."  
  
Marko nodded in understanding. He couldn't help but think about what happened to Padmé on Coruscant that was so terrible. His file of personal memories seemed to be empty, but there was something familiar about her, something... elusive. She was also so beautiful...  
  
"Have you always lived out here in the country?" Marko asked. "I mean, I'd think that a senator's family would live in a place a bit more... public."  
  
"We actually used to live in Theed, the capital of Naboo." Darred replied.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"The empire happened." Darred answered. "When the emperor rose to power, we decided it would be best if we moved back to our secluded farm house in the country, away from public eye."  
  
* A week later *  
  
Marko completely stretched his arms and legs out. He held his ribs as he felt them fully healed for the first time. The atrophy was beginning to fade from his body, and his muscles were beginning to get into good shape. He only wished his mental atrophy would fade was well.  
  
The mystery surrounding the stranger's missing memories had not gotten any better in the week that passed. Marko was lost, a stranger in his own mind. So unbeknownst to him was his real name that he had been forced to take on a provisional name.  
  
Night had fallen upon the Nabooian grasslands, and the stars and moon provided their own pale illumination upon the meadow. Marko looked out to the horizon and began to wonder if he would ever relearn his history. What if he was to spend the rest of his life here on this farm, in hiding with the Naberries? Surely that couldn't be so bad, now could it? They were very good folks, who had healed him well. And there was that girl, Padmé- all week he could not help but think of her. But curiosity continued to nag the stranger, and he looked up the stars, wondering if the answers to his past were out there.  
  
"Uncle Marko! Uncle Marko!"  
  
Marko turned around to find a young, eight year-old girl running towards him. He smiled and embraced the girl. "Hey, Pooja? What's the matter?"  
  
The girl frowned. "I had a nightmare."  
  
Marko smiled. "You know, I'm sure that when I was your age, I had nightmares, too." Yes, theoretically that was probably true, but if only he could remember the nightmares. "I'll tell you what; I'll tell you a story. Maybe that can help you to sleep better. Does your daddy ever tell you stories?"  
  
"Yeah, all the time, but I've heard all of them. I wanna hear your story, Uncle Marko."  
  
-----  
  
Marko smiled as the girl slowly fell asleep. He tucked her in gently as not to wake her and walked out of her room.  
  
"For someone who has no memory, you seem to be pretty good at storytelling."  
  
Marko froze in the dark corridor. He spun around. Padmé.  
  
"You and I still haven't talked yet, have we?" She asked.  
  
"I suppose that's because you've always been distant."  
  
Padmé nodded. He was right. She led the stranger down to the living room. Padmé took her usual seat next to the window, the large, brilliant moon shining through the frame. Marko took a seat across from her.  
  
"I've always been... a bit afraid to talk to you." Padmé admitted. The moonlight illuminated her face brilliantly. "Considering everything I've done to you..."  
  
Marko scowled. "What are you talking about?"  
  
"The accident."  
  
"I don't remember what happened, but that couldn't have been completely your fault."  
  
"It was, Marko. It was." Padmé sighed. "I completely stopped paying attention to where I was going, and when I looked up, it was too late... or maybe it wasn't." She shook her head. "I had a second to make my decision. I could have hit the brakes, I could have turned, and I could have done a million different things in that one second I saw you coming. Instead, I panicked and I jumped out. And my speeder plowed right into you."  
  
"Padmé, you blame yourself to much." Marko replied compassionately. He theorized, "For me to have not reacted, I must have been distracted myself."  
  
"But I saw it all happen before my eyes." She replied. "And I can't help but feel responsible for everything that's happened to you- your arm, your leg, the other injuries you've endured, and most of all your memory. I'm sorry."  
  
Marko nodded slowly. "It's ok. I... I forgive you."  
  
Padmé smiled. "Thank you." She said. "I feel a lot better about this now." There was a long pause as the two sat in silence. Marko looked up at the moon through the large window which sat adjacent to them. Padmé took time to analyze him more closely. He was definitely handsome, a trait which the accident had not robbed him of. His eyes looked to be a record more reliable and less damaged than Marko's memory- they seemed to reflect a very pained and traumatized past. As Marko averted his gaze from the moon, he realized that the former senator was staring at him.  
  
"Yes?" He asked as he met her gaze.  
  
Padmé quickly batted her eyes away, realizing she had nearly burned a hole through him with her intense stare. "That story you told Pooja. How... how did you come across it? Did you just make it up as you went along?"  
  
"No." He replied casually. "My mother told it to me when I was about her age."  
  
Padmé scowled. "You remember your mother?"  
  
Marko froze in dead silence. He only now realized that he had somehow subconsciously accessed a lost memory. "I suppose I do."  
  
"What do you remember?"  
  
"Not much, just that she told me the story I told Pooja." Marko scowled as he struggled to recover more of the memory. "I remember her telling it to me, her voice, her every word..."  
  
"What was her name?"  
  
"I... I can't remember."  
  
"Can you remember anything else about her?"  
  
"She was... kind, but burdened, and always working." Marko frowned sharply. "I can't remember anything else."  
  
A/N: Heh... this is certainly different from most any other fanfic I've ever done (almost no action, purely reliant on dialog) but in a way its refreshing to write. I hope to have some more soon. Please review! 


	4. Reconstruction Chapter 3

Chapter III  
  
* Three weeks later *  
  
Mark sat with Ruwee and Darred in front of the holoscreen. The screen flashed with images of some sort of sport. It showed about twenty men wearing armor scrambling across a field in rather chaotic patterns. They seemed to be divided into about five teams of four; each team assigned a different color. All twenty men seemed to push and shove each other out of the way, scrambling for a single black colored ball. It would appear that the objective of the game was to recover the ball before any other team could.  
  
"Good to see that the empire could not put a halt to the quarterball finals." Ruwee said as he reclined. He smiled reminiscently. "I used to be quite a quarterball player in my day."  
  
"You sure were, honey." Jobal said as she kissed him on the cheek.  
  
"Where did you play?" Marko asked.  
  
"I played in school and spent quite a few years in the minor league." Ruwee reminisced. "I never got to advance to the professional levels, however. By the time I was twenty six, about your age, I had to retire because of all the injuries I took."  
  
"Did you ever play quarterball, Marko?" Darred asked.  
  
"I..... I don't think so." Marko shook his head. "I used to watch the games all the time, though. Our ship used to intercept the broadcasts, and whenever I wasn't out fighting, I was in the mess watching quarterball with the clones..."  
  
"So you did fight in the clone wars?" Darred replied.  
  
Marko scowled. "I suppose I did." He was beginning to access more and more memories subconsciously.  
  
"Can you remember any battles?"  
  
"I think it was... The-the Haruun Kal Crisis... Some sort of Jedi trouble, I believe." Marko said. "I was a pilot, I believe. Some sort of ace or wing leader or something..."  
  
"What world did you represent, what kind of fighter did you fly?" Ruwee asked. "Corellian? Nabooian? Alderaanian?"  
  
"Neither..." Marko shook his head. His jaw clenched as his glare intensified. He rubbed his temples, struggling to find something other than a blank space within his memory. He finally gave up, "I-I can't remember. But I'm pretty sure it wasn't Nabooian."  
  
"Well, that's unfortunate." Darred said. He joked, "Anything that wasn't an N-1 Royal was just sub par in comparison."  
  
Ruwee shook his head. "But now our beautiful and crafted ships are being replaced with TIE fighters and Victory-Class Star Destroyers. Traditional starfighters, like our N-1 Royals, hold a special place in their own respective cultures. Having them replaced with mass produced, industrialized weapons is... terrible, a mutilation of history and culture."  
  
"You seem to know a lot about such things, Ruwee." Marko noted.  
  
"I'm not a man of war." Ruwee said firmly. "But one would come across such knowledge when they were in the position I was. You see, after I called it quits on quarterball, I became a builder. Later I went back to my education and moved the family to Theed. I then became a Professor of Culture at the university."  
  
Marko nodded. His eyes drifted for a second, from the holoscreen, to the table where Sola and her two children played a board game, then to the computer where Jobal was working. Padmé drifted out of the dining room. Marko locked his eyes on her as she stepped out the door and into the backyard which was bathed with the moonlight. Marko excused himself from the living room and joined her.  
  
"Hey." That was her casual greeting as she watched the fields from the balcony. Marko took a stand next to her as he watched her intensely, his feelings and emotions stewing within him.  
  
"How are you?" Marko replied.  
  
"Thinking. Thinking about what's happening out there." She motioned to the night sky gloomily. "I've been so used to knowing what goes on in Coruscant that now I'm scared because I don't."  
  
It was a lie. She was thinking about Anakin. Memories of him had been permeating throughout her thoughts for the past few days. She could remember him perfectly, ever intimate detail- his scars and injuries, his voice, the disguised symbols of love they used to exchange. She felt hollow within, a hole that Anakin used to fill. She looked at the stranger with a gleam of moonlight in her eyes. Could he fill this hollowness?  
  
"I just learned that I was a pilot in the clone wars."  
  
It was a struggle to smile, but she somehow did. "Another lost memory came back. That's great, Marko."  
  
"I think I also kind of confirmed that I'm not from here."  
  
"How?"  
  
"I never flew an N-1.I can't even remember the ship I flew, but I was sure it wasn't an N-1."  
  
"That doesn't really give much solid proof, now does it?"  
  
"No, but I'm sure I didn't fly for the Corellians either." He grinned. "For all I know, I could have flown for the Mon Calamari."  
  
She chuckled, but his jokes couldn't really cheer her up. The emptiness remained.  
  
"I need to tell you something..." Marko's voice trailed off as he drew closer to the former senator.  
  
"How you feel." It wasn't a question. She knew.  
  
"I just wanted to know what you think. I mean it's hard to believe that I'm falling in love with someone who-"  
  
"Almost killed you?" Amidala's voice was sick with grief. Something was wrong here. She couldn't stop thinking about Anakin. She heard his voice every time the stranger spoke; saw his face every time she looked at the stranger. It was too soon... It was too soon... This couldn't be happening.  
  
The former senator pulled away. "No..." She said nervously while shaking her head. "I-"  
  
Marko drew back slowly. "I'm sorry, m'lady."  
  
'm'lady'. Anakin's voice came gushing through again. "It's too soon." She said painfully. "I-I can't. I can't fall in love again, at least not this way. Not... not like this."  
  
She left, and the stranger was all alone. Marko sighed and leaned against the balcony railing, watching the moonlight bathed fields in silence.  
  
* The next day *  
  
Padmé worked out in the front of the farmhouse, in the garden she had begun to maintain the past few days. She silently thought about everything- Anakin, Coruscant, Marko, Vader... The situation was painful and dark.  
  
The senate was no longer holding her down. He was not a Jedi, he was not held down by rules against attachment. Yet she could not allow herself to indulge. Why? Why had she turned him down? He was handsome, sweet, attractive and a handful of so many other great qualities and characteristics.  
  
Padmé looked up from her garden. Her thoughts had been interrupted by the buzz of a speeder. She watched closely as the speeder pulled up to her and a single woman emerged from the driver's seat. Padmé recognized this woman, her long brown hair, her intense but contemplative step. The woman's stomach bulged out, round and full as nine months of pregnancy.  
  
"Lana? Lana!" Padmé rushed forward and embraced the woman who had once been her Jedi protector.  
  
"Senator." Lana's tone was as grim as it was burdened.  
  
"When are you due?"  
  
"Any day now."  
  
"Come on, come inside."  
  
* * *  
  
"What happened? What are you doing here?" Padmé asked the Jedi as she handed her a drink. The two women were seated in the second guest room of the farmhouse.  
  
"I have been searching for months. Now I am sure of it- I am the last of the Jedi."  
  
Padmé sighed at this distressing news. "How are you going to take care of them?" Padmé asked as she set her hand on Lana's stomach.  
  
"I don't know." Lana replied. "I know I'd have trouble taking care of one child, and here I am, carrying twins."  
  
Padmé gave the Jedi Consular more tea.  
  
"This is all that's left of their father." Lana placed a lightsaber on the table. It was a double-ended lightsaber. Alan's double-ended lightsaber. "I know I can't do this alone. I suppose that's why I came here. I knew I could trust you."  
  
"Do you ever really miss Alan?"  
  
"Do you ever miss Anakin?"  
  
The senator nodded, point taken. Despite their friendship, there was a heavy darkness that extended from their past. Lana was also engaged in a forbidden relationship, with a fellow Jedi named Alan Dawnstrider. Lana was also there when Anakin fell to the darkside, when Anakin became Darth Vader. She was there when Anakin betrayed and murdered Alan.  
  
"I'm sorry Lana." She felt like apologized for Vader's actions. "I'm so sorry."  
  
"I've had time to grieve, and to move on. Alan reached a Jedi's end and became one with the force. I can feel his presence every time I meditate."  
  
"I'll help you hide your children from the emperor. I'll help you raise them."  
  
"Thank you." The Jedi paused. She reached for a datapad inside of her pack. "Senator Organa told me to deliver this to you."  
  
"Senator Organa is still alive?!"  
  
"Darth Sidious shocked him pretty bad, but it was not enough to kill him. But he is now paralyzed from the waist down."  
  
"Hello?" Marko's voice spread throughout the house. He came to the room where the two women were conversing. "Padmé? Hey, whats going o-"  
  
"Out!" Padmé shouted. It was rather uncharacteristic of the senator to bark orders that way, but she seemed surprised and shocked.  
  
Lana scowled. "What are you doing here?" She looked shocked. "Why... Why couldn't I sense this?"  
  
"Marko, out! Out, now!" Padmé barked.  
  
Marko looked to Padmé, then to the pregnant woman, then to the lightsaber on the table. "But-"  
  
"OUT!"  
  
"I shouldn't have come here." Lana whispered to herself nervously.  
  
Padmé closed the door in Marko's face. The stranger stood dumbly, listening to the two women's voices, blurred and muffled by the door, as they argued.  
  
A/N: For those curious- yes, these original characters presented here are the same Alan and Lana from my other fanfic, "Dark Conspiracy"... odd, I never thought I'd be releasing a story and it's sequel at the same time. 


	5. Reconstruction Chapter 4

A/N: Wow, this fanfic seems to be doing much better than the other one I've been writing. Four reviews per chapter... wow. Thank you for the support, guys.  
  
Nadia: Yes, that's correct. Padmé is not pregnant in this AU.  
  
Reconstruction- Chapter IV  
  
* The Next Day *  
  
Lana gasped for air. After more than eight hours of labor, they had finally arrived. The Jedi Consular smiled proudly as Sola presented the twins to her- a baby boy and a beautiful baby girl. Tears gushed down her face as she embraced the two infants. She looked upon with a smiling face, yet she was sad. She knew that dark times were ahead, and that her two twins would have to bear the brunt of these dark times.  
  
"What are you going to name them, Master Jedi?" Sola asked as she eagerly watched the young mother with her newborn children.  
  
"I... I don't know." Lana looked away. She so desperately wished Alan were here.  
  
Jobal smiled. "Surely you have some name for them..."  
  
Lana shook her head. "No... no, I've never given it much thought." She paused as she held the twins in her arms. "Can you think of any names?"  
  
"How about..." Sola paused to think for a moment. She always wondered what she would have named her children if either of them had been born a boy. She smiled. "How about Jeremiah?"  
  
"No, that doesn't sound right." Padmé said as she shook her head. She analyzed the baby boy. "How does Ryan sound?"  
  
Lana shook her head slowly. "I can't say I really like either of those names..."  
  
"You know, Padmé," Jobal began, "when I learned I was first pregnant with you, your father swore you would be a boy."  
  
Sola grinned. "I knew that dad always wanted a son."  
  
"Yes, he did." Jobal nodded. She looked to her younger daughter. "He said that when you were born, he would name you Luke." Jobal chuckled. "Boy, did he put his foot in his mouth when you came out a girl."  
  
Padmé grinned. "So I take it that's when you decided to name me Padmé, right?"  
  
"No, actually it was your father who came up with the name Padmé. I actually wanted to name you Leia."  
  
"Luke? Leia?" The Jedi paused contemplatively as she sat upright in her bed. She eyed the boy she carried in her left arm, then the girl in her right. "I like both of those names."  
  
* That Night *  
  
"Padmé." Lana called the former senator over to her bedside. She signaled to the senator to close the door.  
  
"Is something wrong, Lana?" Padmé asked as she closed the door behind her.  
  
"I need you do an analysis of my blood." Lana said as she looked over to the twins, who were now resting in their crib. She looked back to the senator. "Get my Midiclorean count."  
  
"Midiclorean count?" Padmé scowled.  
  
Lana clenched her jaw as she clasped her temples in pain. She had been attempting to attune herself to the Force all day, since the twins had been born. Her failed attempts were beginning to give her a massive headache. Lana eyed Padmé and nodded.  
  
Padmé accessed the medical supplies and picked out a needle and a small vial. The former senator gently drew blood from Lana and set the blood into the computer to be analyzed.  
  
"My normal count," Lana said, "is eleven thousand six hundred twenty-nine."  
  
Padmé's heart sank as the data materialized on the screen before her. She looked to the Jedi Consular with a grave expression. Padmé's mind echoed with a painful sadness as she mouthed the words. "Five hundred ninety-two."  
  
Lana blinked and looked to her two children as a veil of sadness overcame her.  
  
"Lana, what's going on with your Midiclorean count?"  
  
"About six months ago, I fought the dark lord of the Sith."  
  
"You fought the Emperor?"  
  
"No." Lana shook her head. "I fought his apprentice, Darth Wraith in Corellia. I couldn't defeat him, he was a much better swordsman... I managed to somehow get away, but not before he hit me with a toxic dart."  
  
"And that's what's been doing this to you?"  
  
"Yes. It's an old Sith poison that eats away at the victim's midicloreans. There is no cure. There is a vaccine, but the Temple no longer deemed it necessary, so I never got it. Its too late now..."  
  
"No." Padmé shook her head in disbelief. "It can't be too late. There's got to be a way to save you..."  
  
"No. I've used the Force to slow the poison long enough. Now I cannot even get in tune with the Force. Now, I don't have much time left. The poison will continue to eat away my midicloreans until I have none left. And a life form without midicloreans..." Lana sighed. "...is dead."  
  
Padmé gasped. "The twins."  
  
"No." Lana's jaw clamped. "I protected them from the poison, and made sure it couldn't filter down to them through me."  
  
"They will need you, Lana."  
  
"I know. They lost their father before they were even born, and I know that I only have a few days." Lana took a few deep breaths.  
  
"Lana, you protected me for four long years." A tear streamed down Padmé's cheek. "You stopped three different attempts on my life. I need you now, more than ever."  
  
"I'm sorry, senator." She said regretfully.  
  
Padmé eyed the twins. "They need their mother.  
  
"You need to be their mother." Lana said. Her words struck the former senator like a house of bricks. "That's why I came here, Padmé. I knew I could trust you with them. I know you have a wonderful family; this would be the best I could provide them with. Please..."  
  
Padmé nodded silently; awed by the burden Lana was placing on her shoulders. "I'll raise them and take care of them, I promise."  
  
"Thank you, Padmé, thank you." Lana paused to catch her breath and compose herself. "There is something else I need you to do for me."  
  
"What is it, Lana?"  
  
"Marko, or whatever you've chosen to call him, must be told the truth."  
  
Padmé glared at the Jedi. "No." She shook her head vehemently. "I can't do that. It's too dangerous!"  
  
"Listen to me, Padmé. When I die, the Jedi will all be extinct, and Lord Sidious will win." Lana took in a deep breath. "When I'm gone, his lost memories will be all that remains of the Jedi."  
  
"What if he doesn't remember it that way? I will put everyone in danger-"  
  
"Everyone already is in danger. What difference would one more threat make?" Lana asked rhetorically. "What I'm saying is that his lost memories are like... the box of Pandora. They contain pain, suffering, anger, hatred, and ultimately evil. But they also contain the ray of hope that might yet save the galaxy from the Emperor."  
  
Padmé sighed. She looked to the twins again as they rested silently. She thought of her family, of her sister, her father, her two nieces, and of all the danger she would be putting them in.  
  
"And he can't even remember the truth, but he still loves you, Padmé." Lana grabbed the senator by the wrist, and solemnly looked her in the eyes. "I believed then, as I believe now, that love redeems. He needs you, Padmé."  
  
Padmé took a full minute to think things over. She gently nodded. "I will tell him."  
  
* * *  
  
"Marko." Padmé called the stranger to her room. "We need to talk."  
  
Marko scowled as he followed Padmé to her room. She closed the door behind him, and the stranger took a seat at her desk, mildly confused and bewildered. He thought she had turned him down, that she "could not fall in love again". Was she changing her mind?  
  
"There's something I need to tell you." Padmé said. "I've... been hiding the truth from you for a very long time."  
  
The mini-holoprojector in her hand glowed to life, displaying a miniature holographic image. Marko analyzed the picture. It showed Padmé kissing a dark-haired young man in his early twenties. Marko slowly realized from the dress that Padmé wore and the attire of the young man that this was a wedding picture. It looked deathly familiar.  
  
"That's my husband," Padmé said, "Anakin Skywalker..."  
  
Marko felt his heart sink as he heard that name. His stomach seemed to contract as he analyzed the wedding picture again, taking note of the groom's features. Marko looked up at the mirror in Padmé's room, analyzing his reflection. Marko clenched his jaw. He looked exactly like Anakin Skywalker.  
  
"...You..."  
  
A/N: Still hope Padmé doesn't fall completely for Marko? 


End file.
